Tag Archives: relationship buiding

Are you a football fan? It’s ok if you’re not. I am. Here’s a metaphoric epiphany on real growth and success I had recently that deals with playing the long game.

In football, there’s a key reason that successful teams in pro football are always looking for a great QB. It’s not just leadership, though that’s a big factor. It’s not just play-making ability, though that’s also a factor. Success lies in an effective long game approach and execution.

The key reason is a leader with play-making ability who can see the whole field and take calculated steps towards moving forward wins more games than those who don’t invest in the process of operating in the big picture. Sometimes they pick a running play. Sometimes it’s pass. Sometimes is play-action.

Either way, a winning long game is how champions are made.

This principle is true in business (regardless of the industry and whether you work for yourself or someone else). It’s also true in life.

Can you see the field in front of you and set yourself up to create openings that lead to new opportunities?

Or are you going for the big scoring play right out of the gate?

Hey, let’s be honest. It’s human nature to try for the big touchdown play on the opening drive from your own 20 yard line. I see this all the time with musicians and creatives you contact media for features, interviews, and reviews. They start their very first email to media with a ton of links and a huge bio and no mention of the person they’re talking to (or trying to talk to).

When a QB throws a hail mary pass right off the bat, it’s likely to fail. And fail miserably. Then if they repeat that hail mary pass every time they run a play, it’s likely they’ll lose their spot on the team because it rarely works, which leads to losing ground and losing games.

This is a struggle a lot of people have.

Here are some things I’ve heard my coaching clients tell me that they’ve struggled with in building relationships:

“I’m not great at making relationships with others.”

“I have an inner-struggle in my head about thinking that I’m a mooch if I reach out to people, like I’m using them for whatever they can do for me.”

Have any of those been thoughts you’ve had?

Try this out: Take a long-game approach to how you cultivate connections with people.

The process is simple. Spend some time just getting to know the person you want to build a relationship with. What do they like? What are their go-to picks or absolute favorites (can be music, movies, food, etc)? Why?

When you get someone talking about the stuff they like and be interested in them, it impacts the way they see you. You can follow up later to see if they’ve seen or done anything new that fits with the interests and passions they shared with you. Follow up is where the magic of connection-building happens.

How does this serve you?

It shows you are actually interested in them, which shows that you’re a person worth reciprocating that interest and care back to.

It’s similar to what Dale Carnegie said, “You can make more friends in 2 months showing an interest in other people than you can in 2 years trying to get other people interested in you.”

This method of Growth Farming works in building connections with anyone from business prospects, networking opportunities, acquaintances, business professionals and even influencers in your industry.

I used this strategy recently to land a sponsor for my radio show and grow my network of influential connections. It works. Utilize the long game and create winning experiences over and over again.

Be someone who genuinely cares and you’ll be surprised how much care is returned to you.